A Letter from the Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor

It is impossible to thank Nicole Cloutier and Christina Harrington enough for the wonderful work they did for LUMINA. What we inherit as Editor-in-Chief and Managing Editor is something beyond beautiful. Nicole and Christina have taken an already amazing literary journal and stretched it to new lengths. LUMINA Vol. XIII opened the doors for so many exciting ideas, and laid a foundation for the journal to move forward as an ever-growing creative force.

Vol. XIII saw our first ever translated piece, “Túnel,” written by Marina Azahua. Vol. XIII also saw colorful and amazing artwork by artists from all around the world and continued the journal’s love for street art, featuring El Curiot’s Quetzen-tul con una canica más on the cover. And most importantly, LUMINA embraced technology, experimenting with scannable and interactive writings and images, starting with the launch of LUX, LUMINA’s first ever multimedia edition.

We have some big shoes to fill. LUMINA Vol. XIV has to pick up the tradition that began back in 2000 and was solidified by the hard work and amazing vision of LUMINA’s 2013-14 staff. We are proud to announce that we will be starting off with a bang.

During the 2014-15 publication, we will, for the first time ever, be transforming our online presence with the launch of an online version of our beloved literary journal. LUMINA Online Literary Journal is now accepting submissions for our first publication coming out November 1st. We are excited about this new platform to publish all the wonderful work submitted to us by so many talented writers. We are accepting poetry, nonfiction, and fiction for LUMINA Online Literary Journal. LUMINA Online will be published bi-monthly from November 1st to May 1st.

We are also accepting submissions for LUX Vol. II. This will be our second year publishing LUX and we are truly excited. The wonderful thing about LUX is its malleability. LUX is changeable, flexible, and magical. It is the playground of our publication and we hope that it will always be growing and exploring. This year we want to further the merge between visual art, sound, literature, and technology, both in the published work as well as the actual aesthetic of the printed book.

We want to move beyond the chapbook and really bring LUX to its full potential as a powerful multimedia literary journal—a home, haven, and platform for experimental work that pushes the borders and challenges the labels that define art, music, and writing. We want risk takers and poetic rebels. We are now accepting submissions for LUX. The deadline to submit is September 1st. For more information please go to our Multimedia Submission Guidelines.

This year the journal will hold a poetry contest. A judge will be announced soon and submissions will open by the end of July. As soon as the judge is announced we will post the guidelines for the contest. 1st place will be published in LUMINA Vol. XIV and receive $500, 2nd place will be published in LUMINA Vol. XIV and receive $250, and 3rd place will be published in LUMINA Online Literary Journal and will receive $100. Stay tuned!

Finally, our dream is to move LUMINA further as a powerful journal full of heart wrenching, hilarious, intelligent, and beautiful words. As always, we will strive to keep up the amazing traditions and visions that gave birth to LUMINA fourteen years ago. We know that we have a lot of work in store, but we are excited about the challenges ahead!